Eman’s Ford Escort was eliminated in the first round of Pro Stock by Robert Patrick with a 6.332/219.33 to Eman’s 6.428/217.63.

Trevor Eman was born and raised in Aruba and even got his drag racing start on a small track close to home. Now, from bracket racing in Aruba to driving on a national drag racing tour, Eman has evolved to one of the fastest door cars on the planet – IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock.

“We used to race Pro Stocks in Aruba and that is how it all started. We have been doing that forever with my uncle and dad,” Eman said. “A few years ago it got to where there wasn’t much competition so we said lets do something different and we shipped the cars over here and that is how it all started.”

But Eman will be quick to admit that what started out as a bit of an experiment quickly turned into an obsession.

“We were only going to do this for two years, but then it became all about the challenge. First lets see if we can qualify then lets see if we can win a race and we kept stepping up our goals and now here we are today, still racing,” Eman said.

And it isn’t hard to spot Eman on race day.

Along with having a brightly colored purple, blue and orange Ford Escort with the words Aruba down the side, his pit area has just as much flare as his personality. With palm trees and the same eye-popping paint scheme on his trailer, Eman loves the reaction he gets from the fans all while supporting the place he calls home.

“That is the idea behind it all. People come by and they want to know more about Aruba and maybe discuss taking a vacation and that is our goal,” Eman said. “We could come here and race for ourselves, but we wouldn’t be putting it to good use. If we are going racing in the states lets take Aruba with us and help promote the island.”

Today Eman can be found on the campus of a school in Orlando majoring in mechanical engineering, but don’t think for a second he has lost any of that fire. Eman still tries to make it to as many events as possible all while continuing to up the ante each race weekend.

“It is never impossible. I have been involved in this stuff since I was little and, while it definitely does help having a foot in the door, it isn’t everything. If you have that determination you can accomplish anything and that is what we are trying to do out here,” Eman said.

-- Larry Crum